If you ask Bob Guilbert what pickleball means to him, he will tell you it’s the ability to compete at a high level in his age bracket, and the opportunity to coach and watch new players improve quickly.
As former COO for a major computer services company, Bob, his wife Caroline and their two children spent years with his work in Germany and Switzerland, before returning to Cape Cod to join a number of startups and currently serves as a Senior Advisor to private equity firms.
Then three and a half years ago, Bob found pickleball, drawing on his background as a collegiate USTA tennis athlete and ping pong player. He quickly obtained his PPR Instructor Certification, and began traveling the country to compete, and became a Gold medal finalist in the US Open.
In September 2022, Bob discovered VELOZ performance paddles. He continued his medal run in three recent major tournaments across the country, earning a role as a VELOZ Sponsored Player. “I’m a huge advocate of the VELOZ pickleball brand,” Bob admits. “I’m impressed by the edgeless design that creates a larger sweet spot and the power produced by four multi-directional layers of carbon fiber. And remarkably, my Ellipse paddle still looks as new as the day it arrived.”
His winning philosophy? “My partners and I agree upfront on our expectations,” he said. “We know that one of us could have an “off” game (hopefully not at the same time), but we have faith that the other player will pick up the slack, and find a way to rally for the win.” His pickleball journey continues this July, as Bob serves as Tournament Director for New England’s first series of Minor League Pickleball-DUPR tournaments in New England (www.Willysgym.com), while competing in the National Senior Games in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania over the Fourth of July.
Most impressive of all, Bob and his son have co-founded a game-changing pickleball insights platform called Unforced Pickleball (available on the App Store). Unforced Pickleball is the leading pickleball shot tracking app designed to help players improve their game and dominate the court! With powerful features and intuitive design, Unforced Pickleball is the go-to app for pickleball players of all levels.
Currently in the pre-launch stage, Bob’s development team envisions the App as a data repository for all pickleball stats. It enables the user to capture or upload a video to analyze and track all rally ending shots by type (dinks, drives, volleys, etc.), winners/unforced errors, forehands/backhands and present innovative player impact analysis. .
Look for Unforced Pickleball to officially launch in June at www.unforcedpickleball.com. Thanks to the efforts of VELOZ Sponsored Players like Bob Guilbert, Team VELOZ continues to evolve your game!